Heloise: Turn your mocha coffee into a smoothie

Tuesday

Mar 31, 2009 at 12:01 AMMar 31, 2009 at 2:25 PM

Heloise

Dear Heloise: I read your article and saw your mocha coffee recipe. My daughter and her family have added a new twist to the mocha coffee. They make the recipe, leaving out the powdered creamer and using a cup of low-fat milk, adding ice cubes and blending it. She has told me that it makes the most fantastic smoothie. Hope your readers will try it and enjoy. — Kay Hansen, Billings, Mont.

Kay, how nice of you to write about this delicious, tasty and cheap-to-make mocha coffee recipe. For my readers who want to taste it, here it is:

Mix the ingredients together. For a cup of mocha coffee, just put 2 rounded teaspoons (less if using artificial sweetener) of the flavored blend into an 8-ounce cup and add boiling water, stirring well.

Note: Some nonfat creamers have sugar included, so you might need to adjust the sugar amount. — Heloise

MAKING SOUP

Dear Heloise: I regularly make big pots of soup. I use a big pot with a metal colander insert to put chicken or turkey carcasses or bones in. When the stock is ready, I just take out the colander with all the bones in it, avoiding any getting into the broth. Then I set the pot in the fridge overnight so the fat hardens on the top and can easily be scooped off. Then it’s all prepared to add veggies, seasonings and noodles or rice. — Jean Milici, Torrington, Conn.

STAY-PUT TRASH BAG

Dear Heloise: One of my worst frustrations was the trash bag sagging down and trash falling out. To keep this from happening, my husband put a large binder clip on the front and one on the back to hold the bag. — Frieda Gothard, Arlington, Texas